Apparatus for charging cupolas and the like



I Sept." 2o, 1927.

W. A. GRIFFIN kAPPARATUS FOR CHARGING CUPOLAS AND THE LIKE 5 Sheets-Shawl'. 1

Filed Nov. 2 1925 t, 1,643,208 Sep zo 1927 w. A. GRIFFIN 4 APPARATUS FOR CHARGING CUPOLAS AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 2, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 t. Sep 20 1927 w. A. GRIFFIN APPARATUS FOR CHARGING CUPOLAS AND THE LIKE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fil Sept 20 19.27' w. A. GRIFFIN l 8 APPARATUS FOR CHARGING CUPOLAS AND THE LlKE Filed Nov.` 2. 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Se t. I 1

p 20 1927 w. A. GRIFFIN APPARATUS FOR GHARGING CUPOLAS AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 2, 192s 5 sheets-sheet 5 Y Patented sept. 2o, i927.

WILLIAM A. GRIFFIN, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR CHARGING CUPOLAS AND THE LIKE.

Application filed November 2, 1923. Serial No. 672,245.

rl`his invention relates to an apparatus for foundry cupolas whereby the metal Ipigs or scraps of iron to be molten yare picked up from a pile, carried through the cupola feed opening` and then dropped on the bed of material within the cupola. y y v Means for this purpose as heretofore con structed were defect-iveby reason of thefact that the material was always delivered at one place, usually the center of the cupola which is objectionable because no distribution of the material occurs thus reducing the efficiency of the cupola.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which permits of easily and conveniently introducing the metal into the cupola and distributing the same over the bed therein with facility and expedition and thus ensure a uniform bedof material as well as increasing the yield of the cupola and improving the quality of the product.

ln the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of my improved cupolal charging apparatus showing the traveling carriage inits outermost or fully retracted position and the lifting tackle in its lowered position. Figures 2 and 3 are side elevations, partly in section, and an enlarged scale of the' rear and front parts of this apparatus showing the carriage in its projected or forward` position and the lifting` tackle elevated. vFigure l is a top view of the rear part of the apparatus showing the parts inthe position corresponding to Fig. 2. Figures 5, 6 and 7 are vertical cross sectionsy taken `on the correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. 2 looking in the direction ofthe arrows associated with these figures. Figure 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal section taken on line S-fS, llig. 7. Figures 9 and lO'are vertical sections, on an enlarged scale, taken on the correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. 4, showing suitable forms of Valves for controlling the supply of compressed air to and exhausting the spent air from opposite ends of the carriage shifting and hoisting cylinders. Figure l1 is a fragmentary plan view showing a modified form of means for shiftg ing the boom horizontally. p v

Similar characters of reference `referto like parts in the several figures. i

In its preferred. form the main frame of the hoist, shown yin the drawings as an eX- ample of one suitable for use in connection with the present improvements, comprises vated front ends with the corresponding ends of the upper longitudinal beams, hangers connecting the depressed rear ends of the inclined longitudinal beams with the corresponding ends of the upper longitudi- `nal beams, front and rear transverse bars or beams 26, 27 connecting the front and rear ,endsof the longitudinal beams upper front supporting wheels 28 pivotally mounted on the front part of the carriage and running on tracks 29 on the upper side of the longitudinalframe beams, lower rear supporting wheels 30 pivotally mounted on the rear ends of thelower inclined carriage beams and yrunning on longitudinal tracks 3l on the underside of the longitudinal `frame beams, and guide rollers 32 pivoted on the hangers and running on said beams 20.

The forward and backward movement of the carriage may be eHected n by various means but preferably by means which are actuated pneumatically. For this purpose an airoperatedmotor is provided which consists essentially of a longitudinally movable shifting cylinder 33 `mounted horizontally and lengthwise on the upper part of the carri,age,and a stationary shifting piston 34erranged in the shifting cylinder and connectedwith the front cross beam 2l of the frame by a' piston rod 35 which passes through the front head 36, of the shifting cylinder, as best shown in Fig. l. Upon alternately admitting compressed air to and. exhaustingthe spent air from opposite ends of .the shifting cylinder, the carriage may be reciprocated or moved-forwardly and backwardlyy as desired during the operation of loading the cupola. y This is preferably accomplished by a valvel mechanism'which in beams orbars 24, 24, connected at their eleits preferred form, as shown in Figures 2, 4, 9 and 10, comprises a valve casing 37 mounted on one of the longitudinal bars of the frame and containing a circular valve seator surface 38 provided with four ports on different quarters of its periphery, two transmission ports 39, 40, arranged on diametrically opposite sides and connected by pipes or conduits 41, 42 with the front and rear ends of the carriage shifting cylinder, and inlet and exhaust ports 43, 44 arranged on diametrically opposite sides of the valve chamber at right angles to the transmission ports, said inlet port being connected by a tube or pipe 45 with any suitable source of supply of compressed air while the exhaust port leads to the outer atmosphere, and a rotary valve plug 46 turning in the valve chamber and provided with two reversing ports 47, 48, so that upon turning the valve plug` by means of the handle 49 the reversing port 48 may connect the inlet 43 with the transmission port 39 and the reversing portv 47 may connect the transmission port 40 with the exhaust, or vice versa, and thus cause the air to be admitted to and exhausted successively from opposite ends of the carriage cylinder so as to cause the carriage to move forwardly and backwardly.

Upon the carriage is mounted a boom 50 which is movable horizontally and laterally relatively thereto so as to permit of depositing the load of material carried by the boom to be deposited on different parts of the bed in the cupola. This boom is preferably constructed in the form of an I-beam and arranged with its rear part within the carriage and below the front cross piece thereof, while its front part projects forwardly from the carriage and is adapted to pass forwardly and baclrwardly underneath the front cross piece or beam of the main frame. This boom is pivotally mounted on the carriage about midway of its length so that the same can swing horizontally, this 'being effected by means which preferably vconsist of an upper pivot loop 51 secured to the underside of the central part of the front carriage cross bar. a lower pivot loop 52 secured to the upper side of thecentral part of the boom, and a vertical pivot pin or bolt 53 connecting the opposing parts of the pivot loops, as best shown in Figures 1 and 6. The boom may be turned horizontally about its vertical axis by various adjusting means which may be variously constructed, this being effected for example by a transverse adjustinel screw 54 journaled in bearings 55 on the inclined bars of the carriage and engagin g its intermediate part with a screw nut 56 on the rear end of the boom and provided at one end with a hand wheel 57 for turning the same, the hand wheel being preferably arranged on the same side of the carriage as the valve which controls the longituclinal movement of the carriage and adjacent to this valve. The screw nut 56 is mounted on the boom so as to be capable of turning about a vertical axis and also moving bodily lengthwise on the boom, thereby permitting the boom to turn and the screw to rotate in its bearings without craniping any of the parts. The preferred manner of mounting the screw nut 56 for this purpose is shown in Figs. 1, 7 and 8.

The lpreferredmeans for thus mounting the screw nut 56 on the boom 50 are constructed as follows z- The boom is made in the form of an I beam and in its web the same is provided with a longitudinal slot one part 504 of which is comparatively narrow in height and another part 505is comparatively wide in height, as shown in Fig. 8. The upper and lower horizontal edges of the narrow part 504 of this slot form guides which engage with horizontal grooves 503 formed in the outer sides of two sliding shoes 501 which are adapted to move horizontally on the boom. On their inner sides the sliding shoes are provided with vertical pivot pins 502 which are arranged vertically in line and which engage with sockets 506 on the upper and lower sides of the screw nut 56. In assembling these parts the lower shoe is first placed astride the lower edgeiof the wide part 505 ofthe slot inthe boom, then the screw nut 56 is placed vwith its lower pivot socket 506 over the pivot pin 502 of the lower shoe, the upper shoe 501 is placed with its pivot pin 502 in the upper pivot ysocket of the screw nut while the parts are still at the wide part of the slot, and then the two shoes and nut pivoted thereon are moved into the narrow part 504 of the slot in the boom so that the groove inthe upper shoe engages the upper edge ofthe narrow part of this slot, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. When thus assembled the screw nut can move lengthwise of the boom by reason of the shoes sliding on the upper and lower edges of the narrow part. 504 of thevslotytherein, and the nut can also turn about a vertical Yaxis due to the pins 502 which pivotally connect the screw nut with the shoes, whereby the screw nut can adapt itself freely to variations in the relative position ofthe screw shaft 54 engaging with this nut and the boom while swinging the latter horizontally upon turning this screw in one direction or the other without cramping any lof the parts. In operating the machine the shoes do not .slide into the wide part 505 of the slot in the boom consequently the shoes and nut cannot be disconnected. This manner of mounting the screw nut is 'therefore very simple and not liable to get out of order.

Instead of adjusting the boom by a screw rod and nut this may be accomplished by the means shown in Fig. 11 which comprise an air motor having a cylinder 63 mounted 0n the carriage and containing a piston 64 which is connected by a rod 91 with the rear end of the boom so that by admitting compressed air or exhausting the same from one end or the other by valves similar to those shown in Fig. 10, it is possible to swing the boom by air pressure into the desired position.

From the front end of this boom a gripper is suspended by a hoisting tackle whereby the load of material to be fed to the cupola is raised. The gripper in the present case is constructed in the form of an electro-magnet 60 to which an electric current issupplied by wires 61 for energizing the same so that the same will pick up a load of pig iron, scraps of iron or steel or the like while upon breaking the circuit the magnet will be deenergized and drop kits load.

The current for this magnet is controlled by a switch 62 which for convenience is mounted on a frame beam 20 adjacent to the air valve which controls the motor for advancing and retracting the carriage. yThe tackle for raising and lowering the magnet which is shown in the drawings as an example of one suitable for this purpose comprises a hoisting cylinder 58 mounted horizontally on the rear part of the boom, a piston 90 movable lengthwise in the hoisting cylinder, a piston rod 59 sliding in the front head of the hoist-ing cylinder and connected at its rear end with the piston therein, and a hoisting line 65 connected at its opposite ends with said hoist-ing piston rod and said magnet and passing with its intermediate part around a sheave 66 on the front end of the boom, under a sheave 67 mounted on the boom immediately in rear of its pivot, and over a sheave 68 mounted on the boom in front of said hoisting cylinder. The rear end of the hoisting cylinder is permanently in communication with the atmosphere through a port 69. The front end of this cylinder is, however`r adapted to be connected either with a compressed air supply or with the atmosphere for either raising or lowering the electro-magnetic gripper and any load that may be held thereby. For this purpose a valve is provided as shown in Figures 2, 4 and 9, which comprises a casing 70 mounted on a frame beam 2O adjacent to the valve 37 and containing a valve chamber 7l and provided with a transmission port 72 connected by a tube or conduit 7 3 with the front end of the hoisting cylinder, an inlet port 7 4 connected by a pipe 75 with a compressed air supply and an exhaust port 76 leading to the atmosphere, and a rotary valve plug 77 arranged in said valve chamber and having a reversing port 78 which upon turning the plug by means of a handle or hand wheel 7 9 permits of placing the compressed air supply in communication with the hoistwill resist such tipping in all positions of the boom transversely of the carriage which means preferably consist of a retaining roller 80 arranged on the upper side of the rear part of the boom and ruiming in engagement with the underside of a transverse track yor rail 8l mounted on the adjacent part of the carriage, as shown in Figures l, 2, et and 5.

In the operation of this apparatus the gripper is lowered` while the carriage is in its retracted position, as shown in Figure l, for engaging the gripper with the material to be fed to the cupola. After the gripper has been lowered on this material the current is turned on the magnetic gripper for energizing the same whereby the same grasps a load. Air is now admitted to the front end of the hoisting cylinder whereby the tackle is raised together with the load until the gripper reaches the position shown in Figure where it is held by continuing the air pressure in the hoisting cylinder. Compressed air is now admitted to the front end of the carriage shifting cylinder whereby the carriage is advanced and the load on the front end of the boom is passed through the feed opening of the foundry cupola. After the load has reached the desire-d position within the cupola, the electric current is out off from the gripper whereby the load therein is permitted to drop on the bed of the cupola.. As the filling of material into the cupola progresses the boom is turned horizontally on the carriage into different positions by means of the horizontal adjusting mechanism so that the batches of material are deposited on different parts of the cupola bed. It is thus possible to effect a "distribution of the material over the bed in the cupola which is uniform and not only ensures a more efficient operation of the cupola, but also yielding a more uniform and superior product.

In the construction of the charging hoist shown in the drawings, the air controlling valves for the carriage shifting and load hoisting cylinders are mounted on one of the longitudinal beams or bars 2O of the main frame, but the same may be mounted on any other stationary support and the pipes Lil. 12, 78 provided with fiexible sections 92, 93, 94C so as to permit the carriage to move freely relatively to the frame without interfering with these controlling valves, and if desired these .valves and the electric switch 62 may be mounted on the carriage in which casethe piping connecting the controlling valves with the operating cylinders may be rigid, as shown in Figure l1.

rlltlthough this apparatus has been described more particularly for use in connection with a foundry cupola and for aotuating the carriage and hoisting tackle by air pressure, and operating the gripperI eleotrically, it is obvious that this hoist may advantageously be employed in other installations, and that the carriage and `hoisting tackle may be actuated by a pressure medium other than compressed air, for instance steam or water, and that the gripper may operate by suction or by mechanical means.

I claim as my invention:

l. An apparatus for charging cupolas, comprising a carriage, a boom pivoted on said carriage to swing horizontally, a hoistinfr tackle mounted on the boom, and means for swinging said boom horizontally comprising a screw nut mounted on said boom so as to be capable ofturning about a ,verti` cal axis and also moving lengthwise or said boom, an adjusting screw working in said screw nut, and bearings which are arranged onsaid carriage and in which said screw can turn but is incapable or' moving lengthwise.

2. An apparatus for charging cupolas, comprising a carriage, a boompiveted on said carriage to swing horizontally and having a horizontal slotone part of which is narrow and has upper and lower horizontal guide edges: and another vpart of. which is wide, upper and lowervshoes provided on vtheir outer sides with grooves adapted to engage with `the upper and llower edges of the nan row part of said slot and also provided on their inner sides with pivot pins, a screw nut provided on its upper and lower sideswith pivot sockets' engaging with said pins, and an adjusting` screw working in said screw Vnut and journaled on said carriage.

WILLIAM A. GRIFFN. 

